More than 1,000 people attended the ninth year of the carnival, said Sharri MacDonald, president of OOB 365.
“Last night we had 948 people in a span of four hours. It was a great turnout,” MacDonald said on Saturday afternoon.
The festival featured a long sledding course starting at the top of Old Orchard Street that ran for about 50 yards.
MacDonald said the festival has a reputation for bringing guests back year after year.
“A lot of adults sled down the hill as well. I like to think every adult is a kid at heart,” said MacDonald. “But a lot of these kids have grown up coming to this carnival. It’s fun for the family, it’s totally free, and that’s what OOB365 is all about.”
“This is his second year at the festival, he’s here with his cousins and he absolutely loves it,” said Quinn’s grandmother, Anne Marie McCarthy, as Quinn stood nearby roasting marshmallows.
Friday night of the carnival was dedicated to night sledding, which MacDonald said is the case every year.
Saturday featured numerous activities, from pony rides and ice sculpting, to marshmallow roasting, to animal petting at a pop-up petting zoo. Vendors were open throughout the weekend, as guests piled into nearby shops to peruse their goods.
Initially, carnival organizers were worried about the sled track given the warm weather, which reached near 60 degrees on Saturday, but MacDonald said the snowstorms from weeks past helped significantly.
“We had a ton of snow, thank god, despite it being warm. But we did have some all-natural, soy-based silicons to grease the slides up a little bit,” said MacDonald. “But kids are just loving it, and the smiles are proof of that.”
— Staff Writer Ryder Schumacher can be reached at 282-1535.
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